Citi, DBS complete first weekend tokenized cross-border deposit on Swift

Key facts

• Citi and DBS completed the first weekend tokenized cross-border deposit transaction.
• The transfer utilized Swift's blockchain-based Digital Ledger.
• The transaction was finalized in minutes, significantly faster than traditional methods.
• This initiative aims to keep deposits within banking channels while leveraging blockchain technology.
• Other major banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered have also conducted similar tokenized transactions on Swift's network.

Financial services giants Citi and DBS have successfully completed the first tokenized cross-border deposit transaction over a weekend, utilizing Swift's blockchain-based Digital Ledger. This move bypasses the limitations of traditional banking hours, allowing for near-instantaneous settlement.

The transaction, which took only minutes to finalize, represents a significant improvement over the typical one to two business days required for conventional cross-border transfers. DBS highlighted this as a key advancement in interbank payments.

This development underscores the growing adoption of blockchain technology by traditional financial institutions to enhance the efficiency of cross-border transactions while maintaining regulatory compliance and keeping deposits within established banking systems. It follows similar successful tokenized cross-border transactions conducted by Standard Chartered and HSBC on Swift's network.

Swift had announced in July that its blockchain-based ledger was ready for initial use and began piloting tokenized cross-border payments with 17 major banks, including Citi and DBS. Citi is also participating in a separate initiative with other large U.S. banks to launch their own tokenized deposit network by mid-2027, operated by The Clearing House.

Furthermore, DBS and JPMorgan revealed plans in November 2025 to collaborate on a blockchain-based tokenization framework aimed at enabling on-chain transfers between their respective deposit token ecosystems, with the goal of establishing an industry standard for interbank payments.